Quoted By:
<span class="mu-s">Recap (3/5)</span>
Upon arriving in Vallaki, you were stopped at the gates. The night was falling, you had just survived an encounter with a spirit of the forest, and were worried about being stuck outside again at night. Yet the guards would not let you in - they said the town was closed at night, citing fear of Strahd's minions. You and Ireena, deciding camping outside wasn't worth the risk, decided to sneak into the city through its northern gate. But you were caught, arrested, and thrown in the town jail. Seeing no other option, you agreed.
In jail, you were freed by a noblewoman named Lady Fiona Wachter, who struck a deal with you. She expressed disdain in the town's current policies under its leader, Baron Vargas Vallakovich, and claimed that two adventurers wandering into town was just the wildcard she needed. But she would not explain why. She simply told you to wander the city, keep a low profile, and meet with her in two days time with her findings; there she would give you her proposal.
However, this deal did not last long. At first, you wandered the town and got a feel for it - they seemed to be very fond of celebrations here, as the decorations for the previous one had not even been torn down yet and they were already putting up notices about a new one. You decided you wanted to meet this Baron that Lady Wachter spoke so low about personally... and you did. You went to his mansion (without Ireena) and asked one of his servants to arrange an audience. While you were waiting for him in the guest lounge, however, you decided to sneak up to the second floor. There you found something suspicious: a man chained in a closet, gagged and beaten purple. But as you did this, the Baron himself emerged from a room with his two dogs, and fell into a blind rage.
He and his two mastiffs attacked you, leaving you no choice but to smite him with the wrath of Kossuth. He was engulfed in flames. He and his dogs died, leaving you stunned.
Quickly, you questioned the prisoner, asking him why he was chained up in the Baron's closet; he claimed he was put there for "malicious unhappiness" after criticizing the town's constant celebrations and strict authoritarian policies. You did not have much time to act, however, as the mansion's staff quickly ascended the stairs along with the town guard, and you were arrested *again*... this time, with no hope of being freed. But not before you had the chance to cast a preservation spell on the Baron's corpse, prolonging the window of time where resurrection is possible, in hope that a more learned caster may yet revive him.
